by Vonna Harper
A female ready for servicing—that’s what she’d become.
His tongue created the space she’d been unable to by pushing into the dark valley. When his tip found her puckered opening, she sobbed and rested her upper body on her elbows. Her eyes stayed closed as he washed and stroked.
She wanted to remain still, wanted nothing except those primitive caresses. At the same time, her growing need for release kept her on the move. She managed to confine her movements to erratic muscle clenches. The raw rasp of his breathing made her wonder if he was laughing at her. As long as he fed the lightning, what did she care?
As easily as a hot knife slicing through butter, his tongue repeatedly slipped along her crack. Whether he approached from the top, or so low that his tongue tip bathed her cunt didn’t matter. It was all good, all overwhelming.
He must have moved behind her and lowered his head nearly to the ground, because after a momentary respite, he began lathing her sex lips. She rewarded him with a constant flow and deep moans she had no way of controlling.
When had she started shaking?
Her mind swirled. His tongue became her world. She shivered when he bathed her buttocks, and whimpered each time he licked up her offering. In a disjointed and unimportant way, she built an image in her mind.
She, a naked and submissive female, huddled beneath the powerful predator body. His dominant form dwarfed her. He could end her life in a second, but reckless and uncaring, she continued to offer herself to him. More than simply offer, she repeatedly thrust herself at him. If she could find a way to trap his tongue between her ass cheeks, she would have.
The heat, wet heat. And his tongue scorching her cunt, softening and preparing it.
Oh, yes, her cunt! Sounds rattling in his throat, he pushed into her one wet inch at a time. More lightning threatened to fry her nerves, yet still she stood her ground, all soft and swollen and receptive. It wasn’t the cock she’d been silently begging for, but this was good! Incredible. Forceful and tender by turn, going deep and full, spreading and preparing her. Tickling sometimes. Resting her forehead on the ground, she gnawed on grass.
A cougar’s tongue penetrating her hole. Unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Pushing her to the edge of everything, only to withdraw slightly, holding her suspended.
When that happened, when her cunt muscles started to spasm, she lifted her head and then her upper body. Her arms burned. Her head became even heavier, forcing her to let it hang. He waited her out, still buried in her but no longer testing her limits, just resting and waiting and reminding her of his all-encompassing presence.
“Please, please,” she whimpered.
Instead of heeding her, he drew back and left her wet and throbbing. Crazed, she longed to pummel him and make him bleed. Even more, she needed him!
But she wasn’t going to beg, she wasn’t! She’d crouch here like the bitch she’d become, ready for servicing. But she wouldn’t plead, and she wouldn’t thrust her ass at him anymore, somehow.
She jumped, shrieked. Only when the cry died did she realize he’d bitten her left buttock. Not a real bite, nothing designed to draw blood or wound, but a primal act nonetheless. A predator’s claim.
He bit her again, on the right cheek this time, fangs raking over her skin and making her shiver.
“Oh God. God!”
After that, the punishment came too fast for her to have any chance of staying on top of it. One cheek and then the other stung with each nip. She had to do something—scramble to her feet and clamp her hands over her buttocks. Attack, pummel, punish her punisher. But she didn’t. Instead, her head remained low and her hair dragged over the ground she’d fallen in love with.
She took what he dished out.
Drowned in sensation.
Spittle bubbled at the corner of her mouth, prompting her to try to lick it up, but some escaped to track a line to her chin. Any other time she would have been embarrassed, but such emotions belonged to the woman she’d been a lifetime ago. This primitive thing she’d become crouched, ready and frantic to be fucked.
The bites weren’t painful, and she didn’t think he’d broken the skin, but they might leave bruises. Maybe she wouldn’t cover them up. Maybe she’d leave the blood-dark marks exposed as a badge of some kind of honor, the ultimate hickey.
More spittle filled her mouth, prompting her to spit it out. Just then something powerful wrapped around the joint between pelvis and thighs, and drew her back. She knew the feel of Cougar’s paws, the thick, harsh pads and exquisitely curving claws. Going still again, she tried to imagine how he’d accomplished what he had. He might have had to squat on his haunches in order to free his front legs, but maybe Hok’ee had begun to make his presence felt again.
Who was behind her, animal or man?
It didn’t matter. She’d take her mate’s cock. Hok’ee or Cougar, she’d take it.
Almost as if she’d willed it, something touched her pussy. She was no longer being pulled toward who or whatever was behind her, but her body resonated with the memory. Something heavy settled on her spine and buttocks. Panting open-mouthed, eyes closed so she could concentrate on the video being played in her mind, she clutched her gathering climax to her.
The cock remained against her swollen nether lips. Her lips were so sensitive. Still she couldn’t determine whether the cock belonged to Hok’ee or the other half of his being. Maybe it didn’t matter.
And maybe the two had fused into one.
Slow pressure parted her sex. He, whichever one it was, had entered her. She welcomed him with awkward muscle contractions. She was an animal now, a female creature in heat. She’d swallow the offering until the man/beast had no more to give and she was full.
Full? Not there yet but getting closer with each second, and her cunt soft and swollen and welcoming. She lived for and through her cunt, had no other existence. Yes, her breasts ached with their own heat and every inch of skin felt abraded, but those things were secondary to her pussy.
The man/creature behind her wanted to fuck. Hell, he’d begun the act. And she, female/creature that she’d become, joined him. She panted and gasped. Her pussy took the gift of a cock, took it deep and deeper still. Her buttocks stung, her head pounded. Something poked her left knee, and her locked elbows burned with fatigue.
Everything was sensation.
Disbelief and acceptance.
When her penetrator shoved, she set herself to accept his thrusts. Somehow her head was up and her eyes open. She couldn’t see anything except colors, endless colors. A moment ago she’d been aware of her aches and weakness. Now she embraced rhythm. When he pushed, she held steady. Then he pulled back, propelling her to close her sex muscles around him.
The two of them kept going, temperatures rising, her body rocking under his strength. She’d forgotten how to breathe, not that it mattered. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Maybe he, whoever he was, had grabbed her around the groin again, maybe she only imagined it. Either way, she rode him. Rode and climbed and cried.
“Damn, damn, damn you,” she hissed.
“No, damn you.”
Good. They’d fight, throw words and curses at each other. As long as his bulk stretched her, she didn’t care. Bleating like some lost fawn, she advanced and retreated. Everything was on fire, muscles screaming and nerves shouting.
Climax! Hammer-blow hard. Shaking her. Going on and on. Fading only to rise again when his hot cum spewed. She sucked his offering into her, deep and deeper still, her pussy drinking from it, filling herself with what he had no use for.
Not knowing who or what she was.
21
Morning came too soon. Kai was more than exhausted. Her body ached, and her mind wasn’t good for much except wondering why the hell there wasn’t any more coffee. She ate her granola bar and washed it down with water, standing up because her ass felt as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. She should have checked, but because she suspected she’d find bite marks, she didn’t.
It had to have been a dream, right? The most vivid dream of her life.
“What are you up to?” she asked when she noted that Garrin was putting on his boots. He’d been outside when she’d crawled out of her tent, but had only grunted in response to her groggy hello. He hadn’t said much after that, not that she was a great conversationalist, either. Just the same, she needed to know whether he planned to look over her shoulder.
“If you must know, I intend to examine something I found in a little more detail.” He shrugged a bit too elaborately. “And regardless of what did or didn’t happen yesterday, I’m taking my rifle. I strongly suggest you do the same. A pistol isn’t enough.”
“I appreciate the advice.” No matter what had taken place yesterday, she needed to remain as civil as possible around Garrin.
“Appreciate? But will you take it?”
“It depends on what I decide to do. Like you, I want to reexamine something.”
“And that something is?”
“At this point I’d prefer not to say.” She kept both her voice and gaze steady. “I think its time we acknowledge that you and I have separate agendas.”
“That we do. And I could care less about yours, as long as you give me the space I need.”
“I haven’t infringed on your territory, if that’s what you’re talking about,” she shot back, instantly wide awake. “Do you want to talk about it now? Professional competition, I mean?”
“Is that how you see it, professional competition? If so, then there’s nothing to talk about. We came into this with clearly defined roles. I’m the archeologist, while you’re—” He shrugged. “You have your own field. What I’m saying is, given your absence yesterday, I trust you intend to be on-task and responsible today. There’s entirely too much at stake, to say nothing of the monetary investment, for either of us to be anything but the consummate professional.”
He was starting to pontificate. Instead of pointing out that she was a professional—something she hadn’t been yesterday or last night—she kept her expression as neutral as possible.
She indicated his backpack. “I take it I’m not going to see you for a while. I also thought we agreed to keep each other apprised of our whereabouts.”
“You didn’t. Why should I?”
Garrin was being childish, something she’d never expected of the man. “Point taken.”
His shrug was obviously designed to downplay her response. Also, obviously he wasn’t interested in being any more forthcoming about his agenda than she was. She wished she didn’t care what he did, but she couldn’t dismiss the possibility that Garrin and Hok’ee’s paths might cross. The rifle he’d killed Anaba with was strapped to his backpack.
Hoping she was keeping her reaction to herself, she shrugged and reached for her own boots. “We’ve gotten on each other’s nerves,” she came up with. “I suppose it’s inevitable given the nature of what we’re doing and the fact that we’re the only ones doing it—our isolation. I hope that will change.”
He licked his lips. “The business with the cougars yesterday—I’m still trying to, how do they say it these days, wrap my mind around it. Bottom line, I know what I saw. You can’t change my mind. If only I’d thought to take pictures.” Another lick of his lips. “There’s so much pressure—I’m sure I don’t have to spell that out.”
In that regard, he was being sincere; she had no doubt of it. If the situation had been reversed, she’d be begging Garrin to explain the unexplainable. Standing, she held out her hand. A moment later, he shook it. His palm felt clammy. “Be careful,” she told him, when what she wanted to do was beg him not to fire at another cougar.
“I need to say the same of you.”
“I intend to.”
By the time she’d laced her boots, Garrin had taken off. Standing alone, she took in her surroundings. It was so peaceful, and lonely.
Where was Hok’ee? And had he regained human form? Maybe it was better if he didn’t; it’d be easier on her nerves if she didn’t see him today. Easier than coming face-to-face with a cougar?
She had to pick up the threads of her life, and do the job she’d been hired to accomplish. If nothing else, Garrin was right about that. The time she’d spent as Hok’ee’s prisoner and sex partner had been the ultimate in erotic insanity, but it had nothing to do with the real world. She had a goal to reach, responsibilities to meet, expectations to fulfill. Most of all, she needed to regain her sense of self, her sanity.
Dad, I don’t know if I want you around right now. If you have any idea what I’ve been doing—God, I’d give anything to have you to talk to!
Spent by her emotional outburst, she crawled back into her tent where she’d stashed her backpack. Instead of wandering off unprepared as she’d done the day before yesterday, she’d take the pack today. She’d keep it light—water, something for lunch, her cell phone, the promised but dreaded rifle.
And her digital camera. The moment she picked it up, she knew what she was going to do. Hok’ee might disagree. Hell, he might even try to stop her from taking pictures of where he lived. But she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen what she had any more than she could lie away their wild sex.
“It’s over, at least it will be before all this ends,” she muttered. “I’m talking about your way of life, Hok’ee. You and the other Tocho. This place will be known by one name, Sani. Tochona will cease to exist.” Silenced by the lump in her throat, she waited until it had loosened. “I don’t know what Garrin found, but neither you nor I can stop people from coming here. Everything is changing. Everything.”
Unnerved by the way her words closed in around her, she exited her tent. But even as she filled her pack, she faced yet more reality. She’d been given glimpses into the past, not just the world of the Navajo, but of a time long before the tribe came here. Cougar and Anaba had been responsible for that mind-expanding look into ancient history.
She needed more.
Hok’ee stood and stretched. Remnants of Cougar clung to his muscles, but before long he’d feel fully human. He gave thought to putting on some clothes, but he’d rather stay where he was and watch Kai approach. As Cougar, he’d paced her while she made her way to his home. He wanted to believe she was returning to him, but because he’d seen what she’d included in her pack, he knew it wasn’t that simple.
Cougar had seen little more than strange objects, but as Hok’ee, he’d been able to make sense of her selection. He didn’t understand why she was armed, or maybe the truth was, he didn’t want to think about that. In contrast, there was no mistaking why she’d brought along her camera.
She intended to photograph what she had no right to.
The way she frequently looked around, he guessed she’d sensed Cougar’s presence, but Cougar hadn’t wanted anything to do with her. Or maybe, Hok’ee amended, Cougar had been afraid to get too close.
That couldn’t be. Cougar feared nothing.
But Cougar had never encountered a human capable of reaching into his mind.
Shaking his head did nothing to clear his confusion. He, Hok’ee, wanted her here, and yet he didn’t. Even at this distance, his fingers remembered her soft skin, and his ears held memories of her excited cries as she climaxed.
Cougar had traveled at a higher elevation than Kai, which had made it easy to watch her. Whenever she’d looked in his direction, he’d dropped to the ground, trusting that his body would blend into his surroundings. In preparation for reaching the ruins, she’d left the valley floor and started up the gentle slope leading to it. He was still above her, but she’d come close enough that his time of being able to hide was coming to an end.
Earlier he’d been full of himself. He’d believed victory lay in making the strange yet compelling woman his prisoner. He was no longer sure.
If Anaba was still alive, he’d have someone to talk to.
“You’re here,” Kai said, her voice echoing. “I know you are. Please, we have to talk.”
The shirt she wore was a different color from the one she’d had on yesterday, and she’d changed from jeans to sturdy shorts. Even though the hem came nearly to her knees and she wore socks, he had no trouble remembering what her legs looked like. Unlike before when it had been loose for the wind to play with, she’d contained her hair within a single braid. He could still control her with it.
Only half-believing what he was doing, he stepped out of the shadows. He’d had an erection when he’d shifted out of cougar form, and looking at her had sent more blood to his cock. Enough of Cougar remained with him that he felt no embarrassment.
“You’re all right?” she asked after a short silence, during which she stood with her hands on her hips while her eyes took in everything about him. “What about the other Tocho? Have you seen them? They know—about Anaba?”
“They know.”
“Where are they?”
She wanted to look around but was forcing herself not to show any sign of nervousness. Sensing her mood increased his awareness of the difference between them.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” she asked. “Why not—because they’re waiting to ambush me?”
“Your kind killed Anaba, not the other way around.”
“My kind? You’re human, too, Hok’ee.”
“Am I?”
Instead of attempting an answer, she shrugged out of her pack and lay it on the ground. Not taking her eyes off him, she dug into it and pulled out her camera. “Do you know what this is?”
“Yes.” His groin ached. He didn’t dare decrease the distance between them, and hoped she wouldn’t try to take advantage of his weakness.
“And why I brought it with me?”